There's no such thing as a kind Sirius Black
by Gaby Black
Summary: Lily finds that there's no such thing as a kind Sirius Black... or is there?


**Disclaimer: **I own nothing.

**Pairing: **James/Lily

**Genre:** general/friendship.

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* * *

_There's no such thing as a kind Sirius Black..._

It was a bleak, wintry evening. I was sitting in the kitchen, idly skimming through a stupid magazine for teenage girls. I had just turned nineteen, but felt much older. We were all sitting at our kitchen table in Godric's Hollow. Only Peter wasn't there; he was visiting his aunt who was sick. Remus and I were reading quietly, enjoying tea and silence, which was unusual, since Sirius and James were in a room together, which usually involved a lot of words and laughter. But tonight they were quiet; I couldn't help but find this a bit worrying, so I decided to annoy Sirius.

"So, Sirius, when do you find yourself a girl?" I asked, smiling.

"Finding is no problem, keeping is the trouble," Remus said, grinning but not looking up from the Daily Prophet.

Sirius shrugged. "I'm not that kind of guy, Lily. You know I have no time for a girlfriend."

I shook my head. "Maybe if you didn't spend so much time fooling around on that stupid motorcycle of yours and doing Godric knows what with Remus and Peter and James when I can't help it, then _maybe_ you'd have time for a girlfriend. But pray tell me if I'm mistaken."

Sirius stuck out his tongue at me, his grey eyes sparkling.

"Seems logical enough," Sirius admitted, but said no more.

For a moment I made as if I'd let it drop, while my brain was racing for names of girls I thought could suit Sirius. He needed a girl as wild as him, or he'd get bored. I was disgruntled when I couldn't find any.

"How about Mary?" I suggested hopefully.

Mary McDonald had been in the same year as us in Hogwarts, also in Gryffindor, and had been my friend since first year, although I felt we were beginning to fall apart now that we'd left Hogwarts.

"Mary McDonald?" Sirius asked in disbelief.

I looked up from my magazine to find Sirius making a comical face.

"Mary I-worship-the-very-air-you-breathe McDonald? I don't think so, Lily!"

The boys laughed. In spite of myself I felt a smile tugging at the corners of my lips. It was true that Mary had had a huge crush on Sirius, forgetting all about her dignity. At the time, I had not understood her. Still didn't, actually.

"Well I'm trying to find someone for you, but it seems impossible," I said, sighing. "You're a hopeless case, Sirius."

Sirius looked thoughtful for a while. "You can call me Padfoot, if you want."

We all gaped at him; James was the first one to recover from the shock.

"You mean… you mean you're including her in the Marauders?" James asked in awe.

No one but the Marauders themselves were allowed to call them by their Marauders nicknames. Rule number 3. Don't ask.

"Well, she's going to marry you, isn't she?" Sirius shrugged, trying but failing to look as if the matter was of no real importance to him. "She's as good as one –"

He trailed off when I impulsively ran to him and gave him a hug. He was taken aback but after a few seconds he hugged me back. I stood up on tip-toe to kiss his cheek and we all laughed when he childishly wiped his cheek with his hand, pretending to be affronted. I pulled back and turned briefly to James, who looked happy and approving. It was true that Sirius and I had had our lot of arguments, and Sirius had taken a while to accept the fact that he would not get to spend as much time with his best friend as he used to. But things were definitely getting better.

"So, Si – Padfoot, how do you like cuddling?" I asked softly, turning back to him.

Sirius looked away, with a sweet smile I had never seen on him.

"It's okay," Sirius grumbled, "as long as you don't touch my hair."

I rolled my eyes as the boys chuckled.

* * *

On the next day, I woke up at nine in the morning, now knowing why James and Sirius had been so quiet – it was only to fool me, to have me in good spirits so that I wouldn't shout when I'd see the bottle of Firewhiskey that Sirius had brought. But I didn't hold any grudge against them; I'd had a great night. We'd laughed and said crazy nonsense and laughed some more, and Sirius tried to walk on his hands. Again, don't ask.

It still didn't change the fact that my head hurt like hell now. I looked at James who was slumbering peacefully next to me, the bastard. I was unfortunate to have some sort of internal alarm clock which prevented me from sleeping until after nine o'clock. I got up and, expectedly, the house was silent. The boys were still sleeping. I had hoped that Remus would be up and sympathised with my hangover – there was no need to expect such a thing from Sirius: it was a miracle if this boy got up before noon.

As I opened the door of our bedroom I found a piece of parchment on the floor. I instantly recognized the distinguished handwriting; it had always bothered me that Sirius Black's handwriting was better than mine.

_Dear Lily,_

_I'll be away for about a week for the Order. I just wanted to thank you for your kindness – I don't deserve you. Thanks for letting me get drunk and sleep on the couch and for some other things I'll never mention if you, Prongs and Moony were too drunk to remember. Tell James I'll try to owl you all in a few days._

_Love,_

_Padfoot_

_PS: Left a surprise for you in the kitchen! _

I smiled widely. A surprise? A present, maybe? I'd thought there was no such thing as a kind Sirius Black. How terribly wrong I'd been…

I gasped as I entered the kitchen: there were remainders of food on the table and on the floor and the table looked like someone had vomited on it (it was meant to be eggs, probably); the sort of terrible havoc only Sirius Black trying to make breakfast could produce.

…. Or not.


End file.
